Drew Brees’ 3 Rules for Investing in a Brand

Many readers are likely familiar with Drew Brees‘ on-field accomplishments — Super Bowl XLIV champion (and MVP), 13‑time Pro-Bowler, two‑time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Walter Payton Man of the Year and the fastest quarterback in history to reach 40,000 and 50,000 passing yards. But Brees’ success didn’t stop once he hung up his cleats. In fact, the future NFL Hall-of-Famer is just getting started.

Brees has been involved with franchising for nearly 15 years across a wide array of brands and sectors, including Everbowl, Jimmy John’s, Small Sliders and Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux. Brees told Entrepreneur that he has a strict list of three criteria that he’s adopted — “basically, my core values,” when considering investing in a brand, whether as a franchisee or franchisor. Here’s what he revealed.

Related: Considering franchise ownership? Get started now to find your personalized list of franchises that match your lifestyle, interests and budget.

1. Authenticity

Brees’ top priority when he spots a potential brand to invest in is simple: authenticity. He needs to believe in the brand or concept, and that means trying it out — and loving it. “I start as a customer of the product or the service before anything else,” he says, “that’s definitely number one on my list.”

And it’s not just Brees. He values his family’s input on brands like Everbowl — which counts him as its biggest franchisee — and Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux, a regional New Orleans franchise he’s invested in as a franchisor. “We live in San Diego now, but whenever I say, ‘Hey, where do you want to eat?’ They’re like, ‘Walk-Ons,’ but there’s not one out here. We go back to New Orleans about 10 times a year, and as soon as we touch down, they want to go right there.”

His family’s love of Everbowl — especially its “Later Bowl” takeout concept during the pandemic — solidified Brees’ belief in the brand. He’s now its biggest franchisee, with 150 Everbowl locations under development.

“He was sending me pictures of him eating Later Bowls with his sons in 2020,” Everbowl founder Jeff Fenster says. “He called me and said, ‘Jeff, I love the brand. I want in. I want to be a franchisee. I want to be a brand ambassador. I want to do it big. Let’s go.’ And so he wrote me a big check to invest.”

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2. Culture and leadership

As you might expect, an athlete who has reached the pinnacle of success knows a bit about leading others. “Leadership is the ability to motivate and inspire and the ability to bring out the best in those around you,” Brees says. “When I think about being a leader of a company or a brand, I think about putting franchisees in the best positions to succeed, inspiring them, equipping them, educating them — doing everything you can to bring out the best in them.”

In terms of Fenster and Everbowl, Brees saw something right away that gelled with his must-haves. “I think Jeff has positioned himself well to understand the industry [and] how to be nimble, how to build teams and great concepts, so that was a fit for my second criteria: culture and leadership,” he says.

Related: This Founder Walked-On to a Top College Basketball Team in the ’90s. Today, He and Drew Brees Are Bringing the ‘Walk-On Mentality’ to Franchising.

3. Unit economics

Franchising is a business model and, for Brees, the numbers have to work. No matter how exciting the concept or how strong the leadership team, if the unit economics don’t add up, he’s not investing.

He was drawn to Everbowl’s low-labor model and the energy inside each location. Whenever he walked into a location, he told Entrepreneur, he saw employees who genuinely enjoyed their work — and made the atmosphere warm and inviting, something he strives to replicate across all his stores.

“It’s the customizability, the quality of the product, the low labor model, the supply chain that we’ve implemented to get the best products,” Brees says. “For all those reasons, I just fell in love with the brand.”

But beyond product and performance, Brees recognizes something deeper about franchising: Most franchisees aren’t dabbling in business; they’re betting their futures on it. Many have spent decades saving, and they’re looking to gain control of their financial lives. The former NFL great doesn’t take that lightly. He sees the franchise playbook not just as a model, but as a system that has no option for failure.

“You feel a real sense of responsibility,” he says, “because people are pouring their life savings into this.”

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Elite mentality

Brees says the best piece of leadership advice he’s ever received is very simple. “Address the challenges that are presented before you and control the things that you can — control the controllables.”

Brees emphasized that, although external factors like the economy are beyond anyone’s control, what business owners can control is their energy, attitude and the way they treat their team and community. He believes that showing up each day with a positive mindset, a willingness to tackle challenges and a commitment to creativity can make all the difference, regardless of the market conditions.

So, how does he continuously maintain this type of elite mentality? It starts with how Brees begins his day.

“I wake up every morning and get a cup of coffee,” he says. “I grab my Bible and I spend 20 minutes just in prayer and meditation, just to set my heart and my mind to the kind of person that I want to be. From there, I’m ready to take on whatever challenges are in my inbox.”

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